Just Forget the World
by PyroQueenOfFire
Summary: Katherine Hale is a new resident at Seattle Grace, and she's trying to make a name for herself--trying to find meaning in her life. She didn't think she'd find drama. OC/Jackson; Lexie/Mark; Owen/Christina; Meredith/Derek; Callie/Arizona
1. Welcome to Seattle Grace

**AUTHOR'S NOTE:**

**I've been wanting to deal with Biology for a while now, and I'm on a Grey's kick, so you get this.**

**It has canon couples in it mostly, and then an OC because OCs are easy to control and I have lots of ideas.**

**May the intro begin.**

**WARNINGS: Language, Gore, Blood, Death, Slash, Sex, Drugs**

**ENJOY!**

xxxx

Jobs. Jobs are vital to success—they're vital to growth. The thing about them is that no matter who you are, no matter what you do, there are those days where you would rather be doing anything _but_ your job. However, when it comes down to _not_ having a job, that's all you can think about—that's all you want. With jobs come income. Stability. Responsibility.

Katherine Hale was a 5'8", 26 year-old, brunette, first year resident, with an attitude, a younger sister, and a mother with COPD—Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease. When her mother got a new job in Seattle and her sister was deciding to go to a massage college in Everett, Katherine decided to transfer and got a recommendation from her Chief of Surgery and from Dr. Addison Montgomery since she and her mother were good friends and Addison knew her work—Katherine was trying to become an Obstetrician…she was trying to pave a path for herself.

Her first day on the job was bound to be challenging, and she was going to have to meet new people, but that wasn't hard for Katherine. She'd always found making friends pretty easy before…it was just all of the other drama in her life that seemed to make everything else hard—seemed to make her job hard. No matter how many times she wished she had a different job, though, Katherine always came back because she liked the challenge—she liked the miracle of life.

"I hate Seattle." Katherine grumbled, running her fingers through her dark brown hair and taking a deep breath as she talked to her younger sister, Abigail on the phone. "Seattle sucks monkey balls, Abby."

Abigail laughed a little, shrugging and looking over her notes, her cell phone perched on her shoulder as she spoke to her sister. Katherine and Abigail were about as close as two sisters could be, and they were incredibly close to their mother. Their father had left them early on in their childhoods, and it had just been the three of them: loving, supporting and protecting each other. They all talked on the phone everyday, and after a really crappy early morning of commuting from Redmond, the first person Katherine had called was her sister—was the one person who _didn't_ have a job in the family of three who would care enough to study _and_ to help to raise Katherine's spirits.

"Have you taken a deep breath yet?" Abigail asked, pushing her russet hair off of her shoulders and setting her pencil down, gripping her phone and sitting up more alert. "You're going to need to take a deep breath and then tell me what it looks like—it'll calm you down. So…what does it look like?"

Katherine smiled a little, pulling her coat tighter across her chest. "Well it's a really nice hospital, and even though it hasn't rained today, I kind of really like it. I mean I hate Seattle but…but this is a hospital. Inside it's probably hectic and challenging and…they're going to hate me."

"They're not going to hate you." Abigail told her sister, rolling her eyes. "Just be yourself, but please…don't be timid like you are when you meet new people. Yeah, it's great to have friends, and you'll make some in time but…you need to assert yourself at your job. You already met Dr. Garrison, so don't worry about it—your main boss _knows_ you…you'll be fine."

"All right, all right…go back to studying, I have to walk into Seattle Grace now and…well and do something." Katherine replied, smiling a little and then closing her eyes and taking a deep breath. "There's another person out here now so…I'm gonna go because I need to meet up with Dr. Garrison and then get my scrubs, you know? Today is going to be a long…_long_ day."

Abigail smiled and told her sister to break a leg—both of them former drama folk who were taught that offering someone 'good luck' was in fact jinxing them—and Katherine smiled and told her to have a good day. Then she set her phone to 'vibrate' and slipped it into her pants pocket, watching as the Asian woman drinking her coffee was almost knocked over by an attractive man in orange scrubs. Katherine knew she had been hired during the huge Seattle Grace/Mercy West Merger, but she hadn't been expecting it to be _this_ busy.

"Well…here goes nothing." Katherine whispered to herself, and she closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and then counted to four.

Katherine had a thing about even numbers, and so once she made it to four, she opened her eyes and walked into Seattle Grace. She looked around at the hustle and bustle around her, smelling disinfectant, the musk of human bodies, some blood and a hint of lemon…it was Katherine's second favorite smell in the entire world—right behind how the world smelled after it rained. Taking only a moment to take it all in, she headed to the Nurses' Station so that she could find Dr. Garrison, running into the man that had almost run the Asian woman over earlier.

"Wow, someone is in a hurry." Katherine said, looking up at him and taking a breath. "Sorry."

He just smiled at her and nodded, Katherine moving past him to get out of his way, asking the nurse at the station where to find Dr. Garrison. The man realized that it was her first day, and leaned on the counter top, Katherine feeling his gaze on her and looking up, giving him a look—what was he doing? Did he need something from her? Who was he? All she knew was that he was a little too close to her for comfort and she didn't even know who he was.

"Jackson Avery—I'm new, from Mercy West." He explained, holding out his hand to her.

She smiled a little and shook his hand. "Katherine Hale—transfer from Evergreen in Kirkland…since you're new, I take it you won't be my cruise director today?"

"That would be a negative." Jackson replied, and then he smiled and slowly slid his hand out of her grip, walking past her as Dr. Garrison showed up.

She smiled at Katherine as she pulled up her ginger hair, already acquainted with Katherine and aware of what she was capable of. Katherine beamed, glad to see a familiar face, and then followed Dr. Garrison to have a small tour of the hospital and shown to the changing room. She had a pair of salmon colored scrubs waiting for her, and she put them on, ready to meet the day…ready to settle in and have a go at her job.

**Note: You guys let me know what you think. This is my first Grey's fic ever and I'm kind of nervous about it, but we'll see how it goes. Feedback is always appreciated!**


	2. Making a New Friend

**AUTHOR'S NOTE:**

**More introductions and some bonding before the time shift.**

**I hope you guys like it!**

**WARNINGS: Language, Gore, Blood, Death, Slash, Sex, Drugs**

**ENJOY!**

xxxx

Persistence. It's that little voice in your head that tells you not to give up. Telling you to keep going until you reach your goal. Persistence was the one trait that Katherine Hale had the most of, and she felt so restless at lunch, sitting with Dr. Garrison. She looked at her carrot sticks and then picked one up, looking up as she heard a female voice. Honestly, Katherine had gotten to see some babies today so she was pretty happy, but she would have liked a friend besides her boss as well.

"Lexie Grey." Lexie said, holding out her hand for Katherine to shake.

Lexie had a habit of trying to make new friends, and the brunette stood there, smile on her face, it widening as Katherine took her hand and shook it. If Lexie wanted a new friend, Katherine was more than willing to oblige because _she_ wanted a friend—she wanted someone to talk to that she didn't have to work _for_. She was in a new work environment and she was going to need people to have her back, so what better time to put herself out there? What better time to decide that life was supposed to be embraced and lived?

"Katherine Hale, but my friends call me Kathy, so…you can do the same." Katherine replied, nodding a little. "Wanna join us?"

Dr. Garrison smiled at the two. "Actually, I have some labs I need to check up on, so how about you two just have lunch? I'll page you if I need you, but don't forget to finish the paperwork I gave you earlier Dr. Hale."

"I won't forget." Katherine admitted as she smiled up at Dr. Garrison as she stood, thankful to get to get to know her new friend on a one-on-one basis.

"So how are you liking the hospital so far?" Lexie asked Katherine, taking the seat that Dr. Garrison had vacated, setting her tray down and picking up her fork.

Katherine thought a moment. "It's daunting but…I kind of like it."

Lexie smiled and nodded, the two of them beginning to talk about their interests and their goals, Katherine explaining about babies. Unlike all of her friends from High School, Katherine had stayed away from the engagements, marriage and children. Most of her friends had kids right out of High School, and she knew that someday she wanted them, but it just wasn't her time. She wanted a career and she wanted to feel at least emotionally ready to even _think_ about thinking about starting a family…and she had yet to fall in love with the right guy.

"Last time I was in love it just ended badly." Katherine explained, shrugging her shoulders a little and eating her pudding. "Your love life?"

Lexie smiled at her. "Actually my boyfriend, Mark, and I are doing really well. We live together."

"Well, well, well." Katherine said, both of them sharing a laugh.

Lexie then took the moment to point out Mark Sloan and Katherine gave her an approving nod, and then the two simply kept talking until they had to part. It seemed almost like they were meant to become friends and as the day wore on, Katherine felt a little more at ease. All she wanted out of this were some friends and a better career and _then_ she could focus on the rest of her life. She wanted renown—she wanted to feel like her life was _worth_ something.

"So you're one of _those_ girls." Jackson said, taking the time out of his busy day to stand next to her.

He actually knew that he should have been working, but he had seen the attractive newbie again looking at the newborns through the glass and he had to talk to her. She smirked a little and looked at him, actually kind of happy to have someone else to talk to and the fact that Jackson Avery was attractive definitely didn't hurt. Then she looked back at the newborns and shrugged her shoulders, waiting for him to speak again because honestly she was just enjoying a moment of down time before assisting in another birth.

"I take it your first day is going well?" Jackson asked her.

Katherine nodded and then shrugged. "I actually like it here even though I still have _no_ idea where anything is."

"You'll pick it up." Jackson said and then he smiled at her and nodded. "I should get back to my job—gotta prove I'm supposed to be here."

"You'll get it done." Katherine replied and with a wink she was walking down the hall already in the opposite direction, off to see what else she could do that day.

When she made it back to Dr. Garrison, she finished up her things and then went to go and watch a surgery happen, sitting next to Lexie. As they looked down on what was happening, Katherine suddenly felt like the whole atmosphere had changed once the doors to the observation room had closed. The observation room was a place where the students were supposed to study and learn, and just watching every incision made Katherine feel a little more at home.

She had always enjoyed the dissection part of her Biology lab classes, and as an Intern nothing had been more thrilling for her than actually working with a live patient—nothing but delivering babies. Katherine had known that she had wanted to be in medicine since she was 6 years old, but it wasn't until college that the idea of being an OBGYN really hit home. Yes, she wanted to do Pre-Med and she had _always_ been interested in being a surgeon, but Katherine wanted to work with babies…she wanted to help to be part of the miracle of childbirth.

"I wish I was down there right now." Lexie told Katherine, leaning towards her a little. "I can't believe that Alex got to scrub in."

Katherine looked up at Lexie. "Alex? Who is that?"

Lexie looked at Katherine and then remembered that Katherine was new, feeling like she had known her for so much longer than that already. She began to explain him to her, and Katherine had the feeling that she wasn't going to like him—he seemed arrogant and douchey. Why in the world would she want to know him? Then again…maybe he had skills that he could teach her.

Once the surgery was over, Katherine went back to her paperwork, ending up around the Nurses' Station at the same time that Alex Karev was asking about a test. Katherine glanced up at him when she felt his eyes on her, and for a second she felt like she recognized that brow, but she wasn't sure. She hadn't actually seen Alex face to face, so there was no way of knowing who this guy was that was staring at her, a smirk on his face.

"I don't believe we've met and you're not wearing orange, so you're not from Mercy West." He told her, stepping a little closer. "I'm Alex Karev."

Katherine nodded, realization hitting her. "Yeah…and I'm not interested."

"Salmon scrubs…Obstetrics." Alex told her, a grin on his face—the man did not give up on a potential conquest.

"I actually have a patient to see before I check out to go home, but it was interesting meeting you." Katherine responded, turning around and seeing Jackson come towards her, flashing him a smile as he smiled at her, headed to the Nurses' Station himself. "Evening, Avery."

"Hale." Jackson replied with a wink.

Katherine rolled her eyes playfully and then headed away from the Nurses' Station slowly, smiling a bit to herself. She wasn't going to lie to herself about her attraction to Jackson—he was intelligent, friendly and obviously talented, and the fact that he was easy on the eyes helped. The problem was, Katherine wasn't sure that she had _time_ for any kind of flirtation and who was to say that Jackson Avery didn't hit on _every_ cute girl he came into contact with. No…no, Katherine was going to focus on acclimating, and then once the merger was complete, then she would see if Jackson was interested.

"Any first name to go with that last name?" Alex called after her, Jackson giving him a look as Katherine's smile disappeared…she was not impressed.

"Katherine!" Lexie called as Katherine neared her patient's room. "Hey…um…when you get off tonight, do you want to go to Joe's with me and meet some people? I don't want you to feel like I'm smothering you or anything, but I know that you said you really wanted to make new friends and Joe's is a really nice place, and—"

"—that sounds perfect, Lex." Katherine said with a laugh, Lexie blushing and then beaming. "I'll page you when I'm off."

**Note: I know it has been awhile, but I shall be updating this one more frequently, I promise. Feedback is always appreciated!**


	3. Trying to Keep Focus

**AUTHOR'S NOTE:**

**So there's a time jump now, and everything will get explained, I promise.**

**This one is also kind of angsty.**

**WARNINGS: Language, Gore, Blood, Death, Slash, Sex, Drugs**

**ENJOY!**

xxxx

Lack of focus. That's what happens to even the best of surgeons when suddenly one of their loved ones is in danger. Everything that they've learned suddenly flies out the window and there's nothing that they can do unless they can get some distance in between them and what's happening and _focus_. If there was ever a day to focus, it was the day that Jackson's grandfather, Harper Avery came into town for surgery.

It had been almost four months since Katherine had joined Seattle Grace and already it seemed like her world was upside down—on top of new management already, Chief Webber had been replaced by Lexie's, sister Meredith's husband, Derek Shephard. Besides that, Katherine had met and loved Mark, but now Lexie was seeing Alex instead and though she claimed it was just for sex, Katherine could already see right through her new best friend…and to make matters worse, Katherine _hated_ Alex Karev…in fact she _loathed_ his very existence. It wasn't often that Katherine found people that she loathed so deeply, but Alex was one of them.

Katherine wasn't as close with Callie Torres, Mark Sloan, Owen Hunt, Meredith Grey and Christina Yang as she would have liked, but as she fell more into a friendship with Jackson, it seemed that the Mercy West staff seemed to be her friends too and the groups still had yet to _completely_ get along. So when she wasn't eating with Lexie and trying to avoid Alex like the plague, she was eating with Jackson, Charles Percy, Reed Adamson and April Kepner. She was trying to fit in and yet she was trying not to pretend to be anyone that she wasn't.

"So you'd rather hang out in the nursery wing than cut people open?" Reed asked her that morning as people began to file in, raising her eyebrows when Katherine nodded. "I find that strange."

Charles looked at her. "Oh, let her be, Reed—at least _she_ has picked her field of study by now. Have the rest of us picked what we wanted yet?"

"I know I haven't." April said timidly.

Katherine smiled at her and took the chart she had come over for from the nurse, noticing Jackson and heading over to him. All they did those days was flirt and banter and Katherine rather looked forward to seeing him everyday. Abigail had told her that she was crushing and it was probably best to sort out her personal and professional life and though Katherine agreed, she also just wanted to be near Jackson. Something about him made her feel calm, and when she was calm she did her best work.

"I saw Christina walking away…did you offend her?" Katherine asked, laughing softly. "And I see you're still looking all civilian."

Jackson smiled when he saw her walk over to him, his grandfather noticing the look immediately, waiting for Dr. Bailey and the cardiologist that Jackson had paged to get there. He was never shown off to Jackson's friends or girlfriends if he had any, and he would have liked to be introduced, but he knew he'd have to do it himself…he was just waiting until a little banter was finished between them. From where he was lying he could tell that the girl was focused and driven, and yet she seemed to have a soft spot for his grandson.

"I'm just waiting with him until Bailey comes, Hale." Jackson responded, smiling a little more.

His grandfather spoke up. "So…I assume that she's not going to be my doctor?"

"No," Jackson responded, shaking his head, "she's a baby doctor."

"I resent that tone, Avery." Katherine told him, pointing her finger at him in a scolding manner. "For your information, I could handle his case just fine, but I have a patient to get to. It was nice to meet you…"

"Dr. Harper Avery." Jackson's grandfather replied, holding out his hand.

Katherine's eyes widened a little as she shook his hand, knowing that he was the Harper Avery of the Harper Avery Award just by the look on Jackson's face. Still, she had a feeling that there weren't a lot of famous people who actually liked being fawned over, so she just smiled at him and shook his hand. Then it dawned on her that she needed to say something and so she opened up her mouth.

"Katherine Hale." She said, the handshake ending. "You're in good hands, Dr. Avery. And you…be nice to your grandfather."

Jackson rolled his eyes as she started walking away. "Go pay attention to your patient!"

"Pay attention to yours." Katherine threw back, continuing to walk.

When she made it to the room she was supposed to go into, she put on a smile as she opened up the door and saw the girl lying there. She couldn't even be out of High School, and yet there she was, lying on the hospital bed in a hospital gown, four months pregnant according to the chart in Katherine's hands. The girl was anemic and the pregnancy was high risk, and it was Katherine's job to do an ultrasound, keep her patient calm, and then to page Dr. Garrison.

"Hey, Anna—I'm Dr. Hale." Katherine said, introducing herself and smiling as the small redhead smiled back at her. "I'm just going to take a couple of basic tests before we begin—sort of act as your nurse today. Take your temperature, check your blood pressure…then I'm going to do an ultrasound for you and tell you about the baby and then I'll get Dr. Garrison for you."

Anna smiled at her. "That sounds good…what's your first name?"

"Katherine." Katherine answered, grabbing the thermometer to put in Anna's ear. "You can just call me Kathy though, if you want to."

"Okay…I didn't mean for this to happen, you know." Anna told her suddenly. "I didn't mean for any of it, but I don't believe in abortion."

Katherine nodded slowly. "I'm not judging you, Anna."

"Everyone judges everyone else." Anna replied with a shrug, holding out her arm as Katherine wrote down her temperature, grabbing everything she needed to check Anna's blood pressure. "I knew what he wanted and I thought I could say 'no', but when the moment came I couldn't…so I let it happen."

Katherine took the story in and nodded slowly, wishing there was someway that she could help the girl, but she couldn't. Anna's parents were disappointed in her but they were helping her through it all, even helping her to screen parents to give her baby to for adoption because Anna didn't _want_ to be a mother yet. She just wanted to get through her Senior Year, graduate, and then go to college and chase her dreams, and she didn't think that she could do that with a baby.

Since it wasn't Katherine's place to give Anna her opinion or advice, she just got the ultrasound over with and then went to get Dr. Garrison, running into Jackson and Meredith as they waited outside Harper Avery's room. Jackson smiled at her and told her and Meredith that they should be happy that they couldn't hear the speech that his grandfather was giving Derek and Dr. Webber in his hospital room. When Katherine seemed interested and yet not interested enough, Jackson wanted to say something, but he just let her walk away…and then he followed her.

"Hey…Hale…what's up? There was no banter and no witty remarks." Jackson told her.

Katherine turned to face him. "I don't even know _why_ I'm telling you this, but…I get too attached to my cases sometimes. There's this girl who came in today just for some simple tests to see how her baby's doing and I feel so bad for her. She's a senior, she's conflicted about being a mother, and I can't help her—all I can do is my job."

"You definitely sound like you picked the right profession." Jackson teased, and he smiled when Katherine did, aware that he wasn't meaning it seriously.

"I wish I only had to deal with the babies coming _out_ part." Katherine admitted and she smiled a little, but it was cut short when her pager went off. "It's…Abby…"

Before Jackson could ask her what was up with her, she had taken off towards her cubby where she changed into her scrubs, grabbing her cell phone. Abigail had paged her 9-1-1, and the moment that Abigail picked up, Katherine heard ambulance sounds and she suddenly feared the worst. She suddenly felt like there was no way that she could keep standing, so she sat on the bench and took a deep breath.

"What happened, Abby?" Katherine managed to ask.

Abigail ran her fingers through her hair. "Mom and I just got to the hospital—she's been having some respiratory problems and then just kind of stopped breathing. I'm freaking out, Ryn."

"Okay, okay—I'm coming into the waiting room to find you." Katherine explained to her, nodding quickly. "I'll see you momentarily."

She hung up as she turned around, surprised to see Jackson standing there across the room from her. Honestly she thought that he had gone back to his grandfather, or was dealing with something else, but he'd followed her because he felt like he should help her if she needed it. Katherine smiled sadly and then pocketed her phone, taking a deep breath and walking towards him since he was near the door.

"My mother just got admitted and I need to meet up with my sister in the waiting room." Katherine told him. "I'd explain more, but I don't want to leave Abby alone any longer than I have to."

"No, I get it…go to your sister." Jackson said nodding. "I understand, I just wanted to make sure everything was all right—and it's not, but…"

Jackson trailed off when Katherine smiled and leaned up, kissing his cheek swiftly and then heading out the door. She knew that he meant well and she appreciated the extension of friendship, going straight for the waiting room and seeing Abigail standing there. Within seconds, Katherine had her arms wrapped around her sister and started stroking her hair, knowing she needed to check on her mother, but there were still doctors in her room, so she had to wait and not get in their way.

**Note: Sorry the chapters are short—I kind of write what comes to me and then stop when I stop. Next chapter in the next few days though, and there will be new friendships and a little time jump soon. Feedback is always appreciated!**


	4. Budding Relationships

**AUTHOR'S NOTE:**

**Sorry it took so long—I've been working and blocked and not watching this season of Grey's because I want Lexie back, and yeah…I am now back because I wanted to work on this. I still love Jackson and I wanted to write some nurse things because it would be fun. That, and I think my drama writing might be a little rusty and this can help with that…**

**I'm kind of going to be doing my own thing here and not so much following the show because I have yet to see Season 9 and because I refuse to kill Lexie and Mark off. So…bear with me okay?**

**WARNINGS: Language, Gore, Blood, Death, Slash, Sex, Drugs**

**ENJOY!**

xxxx

Friendship. No matter the work that you do or the life that you lead, friendship counts. Someone to pick you up when you're down—someone to know you better than you know yourself—Katherine needed that. Katherine needed that and there were really only two females in her life that she could really count on outside of her family and she had to embrace that.

When Katherine's mother got a new inhaler prescription and eventually released from the hospital's care, April and Lexie started to hang out with her more. They could sense that she needed someone around and even though April was from Mercy West, the three found that they had some things in common. Not to mention April thought it was kind of adorable that Katherine was into Jackson, and Jackson couldn't stop talking about her.

"Tomorrow we _all_ have the day off? How often does _that_ happen?" Lexie asked as the three girls ate some lunch together.

Katherine shrugged a little bit. "We should go see a movie, maybe."

"Do you guys mind if I bring Reed, Percy and Jackson along?" April asked them.

"I don't mind," Katherine said quickly, sighing loudly when she saw Alex coming towards her. "Why did God think it would be funny to pair me up with _him_?"

"Your hate for him knows no bounds, huh?" Lexie asked her with a laugh. "Meredith says there's more to him than he shows."

Katherine looked at her skeptically. "Really? Behind the first five layers of ass there's 'maybe-not-such-an-ass'?"

April laughed a little as Katherine smiled, Lexie laughing too even though she was trying to make a point. Then Katherine looked up as Alex stopped at the table, him and Katherine _both_ assigned to Arizona that day for PEDS, and Katherine gave him her full attention even though he knew she hated him. Besides hitting on her, he'd been saying things to her about choosing to hang out with the doctors from Mercy West and all in all just hadn't been nice in general. Katherine, being the judge of character that she was, was pretty certain that no matter the good he'd done in the past, there was _no way_ that he was actually a 'good person'.

Alex looked Katherine in the eye. "The kid—"

"—Tyler." Katherine corrected him, wanting him to use the little boy's name.

"Whatever—he's asking for you and Robbins told me to get you." Alex responded, not happy that he had been sent on this particular errand. "So wrap up your pow-wow and get a move on."

Katherine nodded slowly. "Tyler's sick of looking at your face?"

"Way to be professional." Alex told her.

"You're right, you're right," Katherine admitted even though the idea of Alex being right made her sick to her stomach, "I'm sorry. I'll be there in a minute."

"Good." Alex told her, starting to walk away. "And remember that I'm always right."

Katherine laughed loudly. "You _wish_ you were always right, Karev."

Lexie and April laughed as Katherine rolled her eyes, heading after Alex as she ate an apple slice, bumping into Jackson. Sometimes when Katherine bumped into Jackson it was an accident…more often than not it was on purpose. This time? It was actually an accident—but it was nice to feel his body against hers since she hadn't bumped into him for a good three days.

"Where are you running off to, Hale?" Jackson asked with a chuckle, his chest rumbling against hers as he laughed.

Katherine smirked a little. "Off to do my job. Oooh! Carrots!"

It made Jackson's whole face light up to see her so happy with him, and he actually felt his heart skip a beat when she stole the carrot from his tray. They were definitely friends and it was nice that she felt so comfortable with him because he definitely wanted to get to know her better. If he said he didn't have a crush on her, then he would be lying and yet he wasn't ready to ask her out yet—she didn't seem in the dating space. That didn't mean, however, that he couldn't _tease_ her.

"That was _my_ carrot!" Jackson called after her as she bounded off merrily in her pink scrubs.

He smiled and laughed a little, sitting with Lexie and April since Reed and Percy were off working at that moment. Jackson _also_ had the day off the next day and he wondered how he, Katherine, Lexie and April were going to handle this—Reed and Percy had to work—because with his incessant talking about Katherine, and April's hints that Katherine was into him, Jackson was a little nervous. What if this was all just some kind of plan to get Katherine and Jackson alone together?

"Kathy wants to go to a movie tomorrow," Lexie announced when Jackson settled into his seat.

Jackson nodded slowly. "Oh she does, does she? What kind of movie? Some kind of ridiculous chick flick?"

"She wants to see a horror movie," April told him with a frown on her face.

"And she wants me along to hide her face in., Jackson said with a nod, thinking quite highly of himself.

Lexie laughed though. "Yeah, um…no—she actually _thrives_ on horror movies…but you can hide your face in _her_ if _you_ get scared."

"I'm not going to get scared," Jackson replied rolling his eyes.

April and Lexie smiled and nodded, Katherine making it into the room with Tyler and Arizona, the blonde beaming at her favorite pupil. She wasn't supposed to pick favorites, but she would pick Katherine over Alex any day of the week and that made Katherine happy because she _knew_ that. It was pretty obvious judging solely by the tasks that she and Alex got to do. Still, Katherine knew that Arizona wasn't supposed to pick favorites and she made sure not to gloat to Alex about any of it.

"I missed you," Tyler told Katherine as she entered the room.

Katherine smiled at him. "I missed you too."

She glanced at Arizona and then the door when Tyler's focus shifting away from her, seeing that Alex was there too. He knew that Katherine was the favorite in the room and yet it didn't stop him from being there. Alex wanted to be on top no matter what and while that wasn't on the top of Katherine's list of things to do, it was definitely something she wanted: she wanted to be better than Alex Karev. So, here she was, trying to make it in good with Arizona and she was managing. In fact she was doing more than just managing—she was absolutely dominating.

If she knew anything, Katherine knew that Arizona had bigger plans set in motion for her that had nothing to do with Alex, and Katherine wanted to make sure that she took advantage of the opportunity. She wanted to be the best in the field and she enjoyed what she did and if that _also_ meant sticking it to Alex Karev, then Katherine Hale was going to stick it to him. Arizona spoke up too, bringing Katherine out of her thoughts and back into the room with Tyler.

"Tyler wants you to assist me on his surgery," Arizona told Katherine, smiling at her. "I told him you'd be thrilled, but he wants to hear it from you."

Katherine was caught off guard, but she smiled at Tyler. "Of _course_ I'll assist. You don't think I'd let _him_ do it, do you?"

"Of course not," Tyler replied, Katherine having pointed at Alex.

She was just joking around and Alex knew that, even if part of that statement was full of truth. Katherine would never intentionally let Alex get the better of her and she _wanted_ this surgery—she wanted to prove herself. So, she talked to Tyler a little bit more and then talked to Arizona in her office as Alex went to go make some more rounds, knowing that she was going to have to put some of her surgery skills to work. She was a little bit rusty, but it was nothing that practice couldn't cure.

As she got out of her scrubs, Lexie and April came over to her, sitting on the bench as Katherine buttoned up her shirt and then went for her brush. She wanted to look presentable and tell them the good news, but they'd already heard it and April was gushing while Lexie just beamed at her. They might have been a threesome, but it was really Katherine and Lexie that would consider themselves best friends at this point…that's probably how it would _always_ be.

"You are just winning at _everything_," April told Katherine as she laughed a little bit. "I mean first Jackson decides to come and hang out with us, and then Arizona picks you over Alex for a surgery."

Katherine smiled and shrugged. "I _do_ seem to be having a pretty awesome day."

"You should tell us how you did it," Lexie joked with her as Katherine grabbed her bag. "See you tomorrow?"

"Yeah, at my place," Katherine agreed as they all stood up to leave.

Lexie and April nodded and then they parted, Katherine running into Jackson as she went to her car. He smiled at her, having somehow parked right next to her without knowing, and they both stood behind their cars and smiled before walking up to each other. They felt so comfortable around each other, but regardless of the attraction, neither of them was doing a thing about it.

"I hear you got picked for a surgery over Karev," Jackson told her nodding. "Congratulations."

Katherine blushed a little bit. "Thank you, though if I hadn't gotten the surgery, something would have been wrong with the world."

"You really don't like him at all, do you?" Jackson asked her as he laughed, laughing more when she shook her head. "Is it just because he's an ass, or…?"

"It's a combination of a lot of things but mostly he's an ass and I don't enjoy his company," Katherine admitted with a shrug. "I enjoy yours though, Avery. See you tomorrow?"

Jackson beamed at that and nodded. "Yeah…I'll see you tomorrow."

**Note: Next chapter will be fluffy with lots of Katherine/Jackson flirting because I want it. I miss Jackson and his face. Feedback is always appreciated!**


End file.
